Police say son confesses to deadly stabbing of father in Las Cruces

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico -- A 73-year-old man was stabbed to death by his son in northeast Las Cruces' East Mesa neighborhood early Wednesday, police said.

Lucas Daniel Gonzalez, 26, was being held without bond in Dona Ana County Detention Center on a first-degree felony murder charge after police said he confessed to killing 73-year-old Alfredo Gonzalez.

The deadly stabbing happened at the home the father and son shared in the 5800 block of Desert Mesa Place at Organ Peaks Drive.

Officers responding to a 9-1-1 hangup call around 2:30 a.m. said they found the elder Gonzalez on the ground, just outside the home, with multiple wounds to his face, head, arms and back.

He was unresponsive and without a pulse, police said, and was declared dead shortly thereafter.

The younger Gonzalez was taken to a hospital for treatment of what police described as relatively minor cut wounds to both his hands. Investigators said he was taken into police custody once he was released, and then admitted the killing under questioning by detectives.

"(The son) likely used several knives found in the home to attack his father," LCPD spokesman Dan Trujillo said. "Investigators believe the attack began inside the home before Alfredo exited the front door. Evidence from the scene appears the attack continued on the front walkway where Alfredo was located by the first-arriving officer."

Evidence markers lined the sidewalk in front of the home throughout much of the day Wednesday as a police mobile crime scene unit sat parked nearby; the entire area was blocked off for investigators.